Ya gotta eat ya spinach...

Thick, green, and straight out of a blender.  What's not to love?  Haha!  I have been on a smoothie journey for many years now and have recently gone green.   Well, green with my smoothies anyway.

Originally, I started out using organic plain yogurt, fruit (both fresh and frozen), and apple or orange juice.  These are fantastic smoothies and my kids all couldn't get enough.  At first I added a bit of honey to even out the bitterness of the plain yogurt but over time dropped that as my kids grew accustom to the taste.

A few years ago, I skimmed through part of Jessica Seinfeld's "Deceptively Delicious" and decided to start adding a few deviously deceptive things to these smoothies...and several other dishes as well:) Wahahaha.  I would add a handful of spinach.  At first, it was just a bit and I had to sneak it in when the kids weren't looking.

Over time, I have cut out the yogurt and have a 40% spinach, 50% fruit, 10% juice smoothie...or something close to that anyway.  I also stopped "sneaking" in the greens.  The kids had been drinking them for so long that they didn't seem to mind what was going in them...scary I know.

We like to use apple juice with blueberries or strawberries and orange juice with mango or other citrus smoothies.  I usually put in two or more bananas to help sweeten (the juice helps too) and then at least one other fruit.  I find that I have so much more energy and am more peaceful throughout the day when I start the day off with a green smoothie (and my prenatals and Omega3s too, of course).  It could be all in my head but, hey, it works.

Here are several of our green smoothie recipes.

Blueberry Smoothie:
Fill blender 2/3 full with baby spinach (it will be about right after blending)
Add 2 bananas
Add 2+ cups of frozen blueberries
Add 1-2 cups of apple juice
Blend on high for 2-3 minutes.

Strawberry Smoothie:
Fill blender 2/3 full with baby spinach (it will be about right after blending)
Add 2-3 bananas
Add 2+ cups of frozen or fresh strawberries
Add 1-2 cups of apple juice
Blend on high for 2-3 minutes.

Mango Smoothie:
Fill blender 2/3 full with baby spinach (it will be about right after blending)
Add 2 bananas
Add 2+ cups of frozen mango or tropical blend
Add 1-2 cups of apple juice
Blend on high for 2-3 minutes.

I have tried tons of different things but these are the ones that tend to work best for us.  Sometimes I throw in a little kale or some other greens...just to shake things up a bit:)

Here are a few things that I don't put in.

Grapes:  I tried putting red grapes in a smoothie but my kids were bothered by the skins that didn't blend as well.  I might still put them in if ever I was making a smoothie for just myself as the flavor was really great.

Pears:  When we used pears, it seemed to give the smoothie more of a "gritty" texture that I didn't mind but a few of my kids didn't like.

Since the goal is to get fresh raw spinach down my kids on a daily basis, I stay away from the things to which they have aversions:)


I do also use quite a bit of frozen fruit as I have a hard time keeping fresh fruit around with my little ones.  I mean, really, if each child (5...as the baby is still mostly on veggies) has 2-3 pieces of fruit each day, that is a ton of fruit!  And, it goes fast.

In the end, I am happy to see them all drinking down their dose of fresh, raw greens most mornings.  Makes me feel like they are healthy kids:)  And, I am doing it myself (one of my great joys in life!) instead of buying from one of the popular and expensive smoothie stores. 

How do you get your veggies?